Kritik am Buch „The Shadow Of The Dalai Lama ... - Neues von Shi De

The Shadow of the Dalai Lama – Part II – 8. Magic as a political instrument
© Victor & Victoria Trimondi
8. MAGIC AS A POLITICAL INSTRUMENT
Since his flight from Tibet (in 1959), the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has negotiated the international
political and cultural stage like a sensitive democrat and enlightened man of the world. As a matter of
course he lays claim to all the western “virtues” of humanism, freedom of opinion, rational argument,
belief in technical and scientific progress, etc. One gains the impression that he is an open-minded and
modern president of a modern nation, who masterfully combines his cosmopolitanism with an
elevated, spiritually based, ethical system. But this practical, reasoning facade is deceptive. Behind it
is hidden a deeply rooted belief in supernatural powers and magic practices which are supposed to
exercise a decisive influence upon social and political events.
Invocation of demons
Since time immemorial ritual magic and politics have been one in Tibet. A large proportion of these
magic practices are devoted to the annihilation of enemies, and especially to the neutralizing of
political opponents. The help of demons was necessary for such ends. And they could be found
everywhere — the Land of Snows all but overflowed with terror gods, fateful spirits, vampires,
ghouls, vengeful goddesses, devils, messengers of death and similar entities, who, in the words of
Matthias Hermanns, “completely overgrow the mild and goodly elements [of Buddhism] and hardly
let them reveal their advantages” (Hermanns, 1965, p. 401).
For this reason, invocations of demons were not at all rare occurrences nor were they restricted to the
spheres of personal and family life. They were in general among the most preferred functions of the
lamas. Hence, “demonology” was a high science taught at the monastic universities, and ritual
dealings with malevolent spirits were — as we shall see in a moment — an important function of the
lamaist state. [1]
For the demons to appear they have to be offered the appropriate objects of their lust as a sacrifice,
each class of devil having its own particular taste. René von Nebesky-Wojkowitz describes a number
of culinary specialties from the Lamaist “demon recipe books”: cakes made of dark flour and blood;
five different sorts of meat, including human flesh; the skull of the child of an incestuous relationship
filled with blood and mustard seeds; the skin of a boy; bowls of blood and brain; a lamp filled with
human fat with a wick made of human hair; and a dough like mixture of gall, brain, blood and human
entrails (Nebesky-Wojkowitz, 1955, p. 261).
Once the gods had accepted the sacrifice they stood at the ritual master’s disposal. The four-armed
protective deity, Mahakala, was considered a particularly active assistant when it came to the
destruction of enemies. In national matters his bloodthirsty emanation, the six-handed Kschetrapala,
was called upon. The magician in charge wrote the war god’s mantra on a piece of paper in gold ink
or blood from the blade of a sword together with the wishes he hoped to have granted, and began the